Finders Keepers
by stress
Summary: [BPLH fic] Luca was bored and had nothing better to do. The plain journal seemed to be nothing more than a forgotten book. Who would have guessed that it would be more interesting than one of those dime store novels?


Author's Note: _This is a one shot for the first fan fic contest over at the Battery Park Lodging House. The challenge was to write a one shot that featured six characters. I kind of went overboard with the characters that I mentioned but that's okay. I hope anyone who reads it, enjoys!_

Disclaimer: _Any characters from the 1992 musical, _Newsies_, is © Disney. Any original character, with the exception of Stress and Luca, belong to me. The other's were generously donated (or blatantly stolen) from their creators over at the BPLH._

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Finders Keepers

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Luca Annerire was bored. And, not only was he bored, he was restless as well. Neither temperament was pleasant but, when such was Luca's attitude, it was damn near unbearable.

Sighing as he brushed his shaggy black hair out of his face, the tall boy made his way inside of the front entrance to the Battery Park Lodging House. He did not usually make use of that door – he preferred to climb up the fire escape and sneak into the boys' bunkroom if he could – but he was not in the mood to try to get around Mr. Henderson and his silly rules.

So, rather than do that, he just walked into the lobby, not necessarily paying attention to what he was doing. He was shuffling his feet as he entered the first floor, hazel eyes absently glancing around. There was no sign of the elderly supervisor sitting at the desk in the back right corner and, vaguely, Luca was glad. Still bored, still restless – but glad that he did not have to answer to Mr. Henderson just yet. He was still waiting for the old man to come after him for last week's lodging fare.

Luca paused and crossed his arms over his chest. He was standing at the foot of the lodging house steps. Tapping his right foot, he tried to figure out what he should do now.

The morning selling had not gone half as well as he would have liked and, because of that – a mixture of a lousy headline and a poor selling spot – he did not have enough money to buy himself a pick-me-up down at the Bitter End or even a hot dog from the Brick. And that added to his poor mood.

He thought about going upstairs to take a nap but quickly decided against that. The last time he had done that, he had ended up staying awake all night – and, while that did not bother him, it upset poor Ash, his bunkmate. And by upset, Luca remembered, it meant that Ash finally got tired off him tossing and turning below him and threw his boot at Luca's head.

In memory of that headache, Luca rubbed his head. Cocking it to the side as he patted an imaginary ache, he spotted the entrance to the lodging house library out of the corner of his eye.

_Hmm…_ He dropped his hand from his head as he started to walk towards the library. Though he wasn't really a fan of reading, he thought it might be better to spend some of his afternoon in there rather than just wait for some of his fellow lodgers to return. Maybe then he could do something more worthwhile but, for now, the library seemed like his best bet.

It was still and very quiet in the small, dusty room. Luca felt a little uncomfortable walking into the room as if he would be reprimanded just for stepping too heavy. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that he was alone – he was – before moving across the room over to one of the faded armchairs. He let himself sink into one. If anything, it was comfortable.

There was a bookshelf just off to his right, full of books in varying states of decay. Some seemed new while many were years old; pages were yellow with age, binding was barely holding some of the manuscripts together. He glanced at a few of the titles, casually knocking dust off of their edges. Nothing seemed to suit his fancy and, sighing again, he shrugged and leaned back into the seat.

He turned his head and, his elbows propped up on his thighs, he leaned forward and rested his chin in his palms. That's when he saw it. There, hidden half way under the opposing small table, was a book.

It did not look like any of the books that belonged to the library. At first, he thought it might be that sketchbook of Gimmick's that she always carried around but, as he leaned closer to it, he could tell that it wasn't that. But, then, what was it?

Curiosity got the better of him and he picked it up. It appeared to be nothing more than a simple journal; there was no name or title embossed on it and it seemed to Luca to be in good shape. He shrugged and, leaning back into the armchair, wondered whether or not it would be good to read through whoever's journal this was.

The wondering lasted all of three seconds before Luca shelved any sense of dignity had and cracked the book open.

It was definitely some sort of diary; the first page was covered in a tiny, carefully written hand, as if the author had delicately crafted each letter to each word deliberately. Luca was impressed already. He had learned his letters from one of his elder sisters when he was younger but, anytime he tried to write, it looked like nothing more than faint chicken scratch.

He started to read from the top line. There was a date – earlier that year – but, beneath that was a dedication: Dear Mama. It was a journal entry, yes, but it was almost as if it was a letter to the author's mother.

Luca felt a twinge of guilt for reading something that obviously was so sentimental. Instead of scanning the page, he started to flip through the book. Maybe there was something else in there, something that he could read and not feel like a total cad for doing so.

It was toward the end of the journal when he glimpsed something that caught his attention.

…_Luca…_

He placed his finger on the page and started reading the passage; it did not begin with Dear Mama, so he didn't feel _too _bad. And, besides, as soon as he really started to read what was written on that page, any lingering doubts he had vanished – he was only just amused.

_It's been a very interesting couple of days. It's amazing how much one can see and learn around here by just watching and listening. For example, I never would have guessed that Luca and Morning Glory would spend some alone time together behind the lodging house…_

Luca paused in his reading. His first thought was, _who else was spying on me back there, _but he quickly answered that with a knowing nod. Olivia had been there, after all, and had questioned him on his activities back there until his pet cat, Furry, had shown up and, by his presence, explained just exactly what the two of them were doing back there.

Assuming that the journal had to belong to Olivia, he continued reading.

… _the lodging house but it seems that I'm not the only one to notice. Olivia was…_

Then again, maybe not.

…_Olivia was hanging about and confronted him on it. I was almost tempted to withdraw back into the lodging house when Luca kissed Olivia on the cheek but, to my surprise, she didn't do anything but stare back at him. _

_Especially since, not much later, I saw her with Oscar Delancey. Definitely not the best character – kind of scary – but she looked content to be in his company. So I don't say nothing. Besides, after what Mischief and Aki did to Oscar and his brother, I feel kind of bad for him. It was funny, I'm told, but naked? I could never dare…_

Who was writing this? Luca was not sure if he was more interested in the author – which he assumed had to be one of the girls that lived a floor above him in the lodging house – or all of the gossip he was learning about through this journal.

Incredibly interested, he continued to read. It was almost as if he was reading some of the stories out of one of those dime novels.

_Aki has her own troubles, though, so I guess she can't be blamed. From what I've seen, one of the boys from the Duane Street Lodging House has been following her around. He's a creepy one and I hope someone takes care of him soon. I can't see this ending well. _

_And poor Mischief._ _That boy of hers, Bumlets, has stopped seeing her for some reason or another. And I know that Rogue is together with Mush – but I spied her and Indigo having a very interesting conversation after they bought their papers. It was hard to say which of the two of them was blushing more._

_Then you have Stress. She was talking about that Cowboy – Jack – the other night. Whatever is going on between them is interesting. It's quite obvious that she cares a great deal for him but she's also worried that any relationship she has with him will end like the one he had with David's sister. I don't blame her. He's a nice guy but I'm not sure he's all that trustworthy…_

_And can anything top Snipeshooter trying to sneak into the girls' bunkroom the other afternoon? I can only wonder what he was doing but I saw Cookie chasing him down the fire escape and down the alleyway. I found out it had something to do with going through Periwinkle's belongings. I'm surprised that he wasn't soaked for that. Really? Rifling through drawers? Some people…_

In the middle of his reading, he sensed that he was no longer along. Or maybe it was the quiet sensation of someone who was trying _too _hard to be silent as they crept into the room. Luca's head jerked up, automatically on guard. After years of living on the street, his reflexes had been honed so that, if someone began to sneak up on him, he was aware.

There was a boy standing in the center of the room. He had dark hair to rival Luca's in both length and shade, with wide grey eyes nearly hidden by a brown cap. He was shorter than most guys his age and was rather thin and lanky. And, as he saw that he had been spotted, his gaunt face twisted into a look of sheer nervousness.

Luca recognized him. It was Skeleton Addison, one of the newer boys to join the lodging house. He nodded in salutation. "Hey, Skell. How's it goin'?"

Skeleton looked a bit relieved that Luca was greeting him. He attempted a friendly grin. "H-hi, Luca. I… I was l-lookin' for ya. Yeah. Um… I heard from Mol – from Molly that you like to play d-dice." He shook his head for a moment, as if clearing it of his nervous stutter. "I was wondering… maybe you'd like to play with me?"

Luca looked from the book in his hand to the hopeful expression on Skeleton's face. He nodded as he stood up, closing the book once he was erect. He tapped on it with his free hand. "You should read this book sometime, Skell. I swear, the girls around here are nothing but gossips," he announced before tossing the book back onto the table he found it.

He doubted that Skeleton had any idea as to what he was talking about but he couldn't help but say that. It amused him that someone had actually watched some of their fellow lodgers and written about it in a personal journal. But, really, he wouldn't put it pass any of those girls to do that.

Skeleton nodded, pretending that he knew what Luca was going on about, as Luca stood up and crossed the room. "So, you'll… you'll play?"

"Yeah, I'll play," Luca said, patiently clapping Skeleton on his bony back. "Just let me nip upstairs and get a pair of dice. I'll be right back, Skell. We'll play in the lobby, alright?"

"Th-thanks, Luca. I'll meet you there."

Luca nodded and made his way past Skeleton. As he went, he thought to himself just how lucky he was that he had been able to convince Olivia to lend him her set of loaded and straight dice. If he played this right, he could scam Skell out of a good bit of change before he even knew what had hit him.

Skeleton was wringing his hands as he watched Luca leave the library. If he listened carefully, he could make out the sounds of Luca's boots hitting the stairs. He waited until he was sure that Luca was far enough away before scurrying over to the chair that Luca had just been sitting in.

Taking care to look behind him – he wouldn't be surprised if Luca came back so soon – Skeleton made sure that no one else had entered the library. Once he was sure, he reached out and picked up the journal. Hugging it to his chest, he let out a great sigh of relief.

Skeleton didn't know what he would have done if he had lost his journal.


End file.
